STAR STRUCK BY DAVID BENSON

Who would be on your Fantasy Party guest list? Some people dream about it. David Benson lives it. Every night he whoops it up with the heroes of his youth.

Imagine having a party at which all your heroes are invited. How many of them would live up to your expectations? And how many would turn out to be a complete nightmare? In this magical, brilliantly performed show David Benson meets Quentin Crisp, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Groucho Marx, Noel Coward and many others - and finds out that hero-worship is not all that it seems.

Acclaimed at the Edinburgh Festival 2003, Benson brings Star Struck to Amsterdam for his first-ever appearance in The Netherlands.

tickets with a meal and a drink : euro 55 tickets without a meal but with a drink : 35 euro

For more information and bookings please call 020 6733934 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

CRITICS ABOUT STAR STRUCK

"Hilarious, moving and utterly magical entertainment" Edinburgh Guide

STEPHEN RAPPAPORT in THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART

THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART is an honest and courageous look at man's inherent fear of intimacy and commitment. It is at the same time a sober and candid illumination of the contemporary male psyche. It's the story about a man who has lost hope in his search for a mate, but makes one last attempt by creating the fantasy love of his life.

Together they go on a passion filled, action packed date to the Museum of Contemporary Art; here slowly but surely, the fantasy woman overpowers the man who created her and all hell breaks loose.Its' the dreamiest, sexiest, scariest date that never happened.

ticket without a meal: 35 euro ticket with a meal: 55 euro

CRITICS ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART

"Brilliant, original and riotously funny," the Guardian *** "...exquisitely revelatory... a blisteringly funny, hypnotically wild wrestle with the male ego." Robert Hurwitt, S.F. Examiner *** "Rappaport is a virtuoso at expressing all things human." Joe Adcock Seattle Post-Intelligencer *** "A must see show perceptive observations of human nature are matched only by his seductive stage presence." Barbara Crook, The Vancouver Sun. *** "...one of the most exhilarating artists I've encountered...erotic...fresh...alive. All who see this show will be encouraged to open their hearts and bodies to freedom and possibility." Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight. *** "...amazing physicality...the seductiveness of an uncoiling snake...an honor to bestow." A. E. White, DB Magazine, Adelaide Australia *** "Hilarious...undeniably brilliant...don't miss it." The Vancouver Courier *** "...a tremendously physical, sensual actor...the presence and timing of a great stand-up comic." Alastair Mabbott, The List Glasgow/Edinburgh *** "...entertaining wild fantasy...precise...edgy...engrossing." The Globe and Mail. *** "Great script, mesmerizing performance...astonishing honesty and pure skill. The Kitsilano News *** "His talent and intelligence combined with razor sharp wit and timing make this one of the most hilarious performances of the year." D. Niedermayer, Fringe Review ***

Xaviera Hollander presents:

CHICKEN - the true story of a teenage gigolo

Written & Performed by David Henry Sterry # 1 Play in America

This is the true story of a 17 year-old All-American boy who gets seduced into the sex business. With 70’s music playing in the background, Sterry portrays everyone from his nun/teacher to his employment counselor/pimp, his sweet girlfriend to the man who took advantage of him, his naïve, but charming 17 year-old self to the love-hungry ladies who hired him. Breathtakingly honest, heartbreakingly poignant, surprisingly funny. This is theater that is raw, smart, and universal.

As an appetizer THE GALLERY DONKERSLOOT AND XAVIERA HOLLANDER offer an erotic "Extravaganza fashion show" with Mira Bachvarova and her friends. http://www.gallerydonkersloot.nl

DAVID HENRY STERRY

David Henry Sterry is both writer of and performer in the one-man show Chicken, based on his San Francisco Chronicle bestselling memoir Chicken: Self-Portrait of a Young Man . He is also the author of Satchel Sez: the Wit Wisdom & World of Leroy "Satchel" Paige (Crown, Random House, 2001). His next book will be Putting Your Passion into Print (Workman Press, 2004). Two of his stories are featured in 5 Minute Erotica (Running Press, 2003). He has written for, among others, The London Times, Penthouse, The Hairy Orangutan, The Scotsman, and The SF Chronicle.

He started as a stand-up comedian in SF, performing with everyone from Robin Williams to Milton Berle. As an actor he has worked everywhere from Lincoln Center to the Magic Theater, with everyone from Will Smith to Michael Caine, David Letterman, to Zippy the Chimp.

He has been a TV pitchman for AT&T, Levis, and Isuzu, performed in over 500 commercials, winning 4 Clios. He starred in CTW/HBOís Emmy Award-winning Encyclopedia, and was the emcee at Chippendale's Male Strip Club in New York, winning Cabaret Performer of the Year.

His plays have been performed at PS 122, the West Bank Café, and the Duplex. He has written screenplays for Disney, Fox, and Nickelodeon Pictures. He has worked as a chicken, a chicken frier, a paperboy, a soda jerk, a cherry picker, a poet, a building inspector, a limo driver, a baby sitter, a barker, a women ís soccer coach, and a marriage counselor. He graduated from Reed College, and loves his wife, his cat, and any sport involving a ball. David Henry Sterry has been featured in (among others): The New York Times, The London Times, The Sunday Times, Sunday Independent, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, Elle Magazine, Details Magazine, CBS 48 Hours, NBC The Other Half, BBC Radio, BBC Scotland and Newcastle, and NPR Morning Edition,Weekend Edition, and Talk of the Nation. He recently completed a twenty-five city international tour of Chicken.

The book is being optioned to be made into a film. It was published in the UK in April, 2003, and is coming out in Dutch, German, Croatian, and Spanish. The show, at the Assembly Rooms of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August, 2003, was named the Number 1 play in Great Britain by The Independent.

Because of his life on the streets, he now volunteers doing outreach with homeless kids on the streets of San Francisco, and running writing workshops with people from the sex industry. In July, 2003, he was a speaker, and ran a writing workshop at the "Breaking the Silence" Youth Summit in Washington, hosted by the Department of Justice, GEMS and the US Campaign against the Commercial Exploitation of Children, 17-22 year old survivors from all over the country gathered to try and change the world.

CRITICS ABOUT CHICKEN

"A tour-de force." SF Bay Times *** "Sextacular." - Beth Lisick, SF Gate *** "Frank, funny and surreal." ? The Stage *** "Pick of the week" "Hysterical." ? The Guardian *** "Hard-hitting and universal." Time Out San Francisco *** "Irresistible, very enjoyable." "radiates honesty. Funny, physical, and fast" The Scotsman *** #1 Play in Great Britain. -The Independent *** "Poignant". " a rare pleasure." "moving and original." " revealingly honest." Sterry is a sharp comic, using his limber body and versatile voice to create memorably portraits of the hungry, lonely, wealthy women who employ his services." "Sterry needs no other prop than a wooden bench to get full mileage out of the ludicrousness of sex. But what gives it depth is the hard, sad reality beneath its Rabelaisian humor." "Richly entertaining and thought-provoking." "Speaks cleverly and provocatively to anyone who's ever been or had a child." Robert Hurwitt, Head Theater Critic to The San Francisco Chronicle *** "Packed full of energy, the show is fast, provocative, and highly engaging." Jumping to the beat of his poetic script, the dialogue leads David around every square inch of the stage. It is simply unmissable" The Herald *** "What a rare pleasure it is to see a writer perform his own work . Dream-like profundity. "Sterry's portrayal of his 17-year-old self is immediately honest and believable." "Juxtaposed with his masterful control of poetic dialogue balances the show." SF Examiner *** "On an almost empty stage [Sterry] summons up in glorious technicolour an amazing array of characters." "Extraordinary engrossing and touching." "A a great story . It is a must!" Daily Mail *** "Graced with insight and empathy, Sterry finds a literary rhythm as fluid and alluring as the strut of his nuthugging elephantbells " a sense of humor as bright and ridiculous as a blood-engorged wangdangdoodle- hammer." S F Weekly *** "Hugely compelling to watch , real skill." "The story is told in deft snippets." "the language is poetic, and a 1970s soundtrack gets the audience in the mood."[a] triumphant story. It ís clear that this is a comedy hiding in a tragedy." The Independent ***

MY MOTHER'S SOUP

by Nessim Zohar

It is worth going to see Nessim Zohar’s production. My Mother's Soup is as full-bodied, flavorsome and exotically enticing as the molocheya soup Tel Aviv’s famous writer/performer Nessim Zohar prepares during the show and is truly a treat for all the senses.As you enter the auditorium the smells of the middle east assault you, wetting the appetite and transporting you immediately to Alexandria in Egypt, where the plot unfolds.

Based around the author's life, this is an enchanting, moving, suspenseful and hilarious production. Memories of his childhood in Alexandria are summoned up and invested with almost idyllic overtones. As he stirs up the secret ingredients of his Molocheya, Zohar leads us on the journey of a young man trying to fight for the love of a mother he adored and hated at the same time.

Witness his secret spites and petty grudges, his terrible innermost secrets and above all, his enduring love and awe for his mother, the woman who fed his heart, mind and soul until the very day she died, reaching for an unreturned hug from her hospital bed. In a bid to ease his terrible guilt and reach some kind of reconciliation with his dead mother, the son prepares her favorite dish, Molocheya, on the anniversary of her death. It will be the first time he has tasted the dish in 50 years, having avoided its consumption out of sheer spite and bitterness since his early boyhood.

Like the soup, Zohar brings his audience slowly to the boil with a tremendously inspired performance that is as professional as anything you will ever see on stage. You will be hooked from the moment you enter until the moment you leave and although you are all eager to go out to the bar for a taste of the famous Molechaya soup, a little part of you wants to call “more , more”.

You will no doubt say with your hand on your heart and a spoon in your mouth, this truly is the tastiest treat you will ever get at any of Xaviera Hollander’s productions

Nessim Zohar - Playwright and performer:

Nessim Zohar was born in Egypt and immigrated to Israel in 1950. He started his acting career with the Haifa repertory company. Receiving a grant for most promising young actor, he lived for some years in New York where he attended the H.B. Professional acting workshop and studied filmmaking at the N.Y.U.

During his long career he played leads and major roles in all the repertory theaters in Israel, appeared on television radio and films. He has written scripts for film and theater and published a collection of short stories. “My Mother’s Soup” is the third one-man show he has written and produced.

Nathan Datner - Director:

Nathan Datner was born in Ramat Gan, and has for the past 25 years starred in all major companies off Israeli Theater. His directing career includes “ Sweet Charity”, “Guys and Dolls”, for acting studios,“Snapshots of a marriage” at Habima National theater, which he also translated and adapted. The musicals “Aladin” and “Cinderella”, he directed for independent producers and lately the Israeli rock opera “Dorian Grey” for the Prague opera house.